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Oil slump: Govt revenue drops by N36.6bn

By on December 18, 2014

The continuous fall in oil revenue is taking a toll on the nation’s economy as the gross revenue for the federation for November declined by N36.6bn to N500.07bn from N536.69bn in the month of October.

The figures were contained in a communique issued shortly after the Federation Account Allocation Committee meeting on Tuesday night, which was presided over by the Minister of State for Finance, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda.

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The communique attributed the decline in revenue to the drastic drop of 33 per cent in export volume between September and October 2014, and a further decrease in crude oil prices from $87.78 in October.

Figures obtained from the website of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries on Tuesday put the price of crude oil at $57.92 per barrel.

This, the communique added, impacted negatively on the revenue for the month.

The communique signed by the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Jonah Otunla, stated that the force majeure declared by Shell since June 2014 and the incessant shutdown and shut-in of trunks and pipelines at various terminals contributed negatively to the revenue performance for the month.

It also emerged on Tuesday night that the Excess Crude Account had been depleted by $1bn to $3.1bn from the $4.1bn balance in the month of November.

Yuguda, while confirming the new figure of $3.1bn, could not provide reasons for the decline in the ECA.

When asked by journalists on how much had been withdrawn from the account and what the new balance was, he simply said, “The balance in the ECA as of December 16 stands at $3.1bn.”

Figures contained in the communique showed that an additional sum of N36.87bn was part of the N628.77bn that constituted the distributed allocation for the month of November, which was shared by the three tiers of government.

The November allocation of N628.77bn represents a decline of N35.43bn over the N593.33bn shared in the previous month.

Addressing journalists shortly after the meeting, the Chairman, FAAC Commissioners’ forum, Mr. Timothy Odaah, expressed surprise at the $1bn drop in the ECA.

He said since the matter had become public knowledge following the observation by journalists, it would be extensively discussed at the next FAAC meeting.

Odaah said “We were not in the know that this is the balance and nobody asked such a question until you (journalists) asked that question.

“We heard it alongside with you; so probably by the next FAAC, we must have found out what actually happened.”

He said last month’s request that $2bn should be withdrawn and shared among the three tiers of government had been sent to President Goodluck Jonathan for approval.

The President’s approval, he noted, must be obtained before the amount could be shared.

 

 

[Punch]